Military

Further Reading

Chapter 1

Introduction

This chapter
provides the mechanics and characteristics of antitank (AT) mines
and munitions, antipersonnel (AP) mines and munitions, and
antihandling devices (AHDs). The information contained in this
chapter also provides a foundation for the rest of the manual.

Land-based mines
and munitions are hand-emplaced, remote-delivered,
ground-delivered, or air-delivered:

Hand-emplaced mines and munitions require manual arming
and are labor-, resource-, and transport-intensive.

Remote- and
air-delivered mines and munitions require less time and
labor; however, they are not as precisely placed as
hand-emplaced mines and munitions.

Ground-delivered mines are less resource-intensive than
hand-emplaced mines. They are not precisely placed;
however, the minefield boundaries are.

Soldiers can
surface lay or bury mines and munitions and can place AHDs on
hand-emplaced AT mines.

NOTE: Some
countries employ AHDs on AP mines, but US forces are not
authorized to employ AHDs on any type of AP mine.

MECHANICS OF MINES

CHARACTERISTICS AND FUNCTIONING

A land mine is an
explosive device that is designed to destroy or damage equipment
or personnel. Equipment targets include ground vehicles, boats,
and aircraft. A mine is detonated by the action of its target,
the passage of time, or controlled means. There are two types of
land-based mines--AT and AP. Mines generally consist of the
following parts (Figure 1-1):

Firing mechanism or other device (sets off the detonator or igniter charge).

Detonator or igniter (sets off the booster charge).

Booster charge (may be attached to the fuse or the igniter or be part of the main charge).

Main charge (in a container; usually forms the body of the mine).

Casing (contains all the above parts).

Figure 1-1. Mine components

COMPONENTS AND INITIATING ACTIONS

A firing mechanism prevents the mine from
exploding until it makes contact with, or is influenced by, its
target. Once a mine has been armed, the firing mechanism may be
actuated by the following methods (Figure 1-2):

To arm some mines,
you must position the igniter, set the mechanism properly, and
disengage the safety device (usually by removing a safety pin).
The fuse is the initial component in the firing chain; it has a
low-explosive (LE) powder but is highly sensitive. The fuse is
actuated by an initiating action. Although mines are issued with
a standard fuse, alternate fuses are issued separately for some
mines.

The four main fuse types are shown in Figure 1-3.

Figure 1-3. Types of fuses

ANTITANK MINES

AT mines are designed
to immobilize or destroy vehicles and their occupants.

TYPES OF KILLS

An AT mine produces a
mobility kill (M-Kill) or a catastrophic kill (K-Kill). An M-Kill
destroys one or more of the vehicle's vital drive components (for
example, breaks a track on a tank) and immobilizes the target. An
M-Kill does not always destroy the weapon system and the crew;
they may continue to function. In a K-Kill, the weapon system
and/or the crew is destroyed.

TYPES OF SENSING

AT fuses fall into
three categories:

Track-width.
Usually pressure-actuated, requiring contact with the
wheels or tracks of a vehicle.

Full-width.
Activated by several methods--acoustics,
magnetic-influence, tilt-rod, radio-frequency,
infrared-sensored, command, or vibration. Tilt-rod or
magnetic-influence fuses are the most common. Full-width
fuses are designed to be effective over the entire target
width and can cause a K-Kill from penetration and
spalling metal or from secondary explosions. When a
full-width fuse is activated solely by contact with the
wheels or tracks of the target vehicle, it usually causes
an M-Kill because most of the energy is absorbed by the
wheels or tracks.

Off-route.
Designed to produce an M-Kill or a K-Kill, top or side
attack, when a target vehicle activates the fuse with
acoustic or seismic signals. When activated, an
infrared-sensored, explosive-formed penetrating (EFP) or
a shaped-charge rocket warhead sublet is launched; and
the warhead acquires the target.

TYPES OF WARHEADS

AT mines can be
identified by their warheads:

Blast AT mines derive their
effectiveness from the force generated by high-explosive
(HE) detonation. They usually produce an M-Kill when the
blast damages the track or the vehicle, but a K-Kill is
also possible.

Self-forging fragmentation
(SFF) mines use a directed-energy (Miznay-Schardin [M-S]
effect) warhead that is designed to penetrate the armor
on a vehicle's underside or side (for horizontal-effect
mines). SFF mines are shaped-charge or EFP--shaped-charge
mines concentrate an explosive jet in a desired
direction; EFP mines turn the mines' solid metal end
plate into a projectile. SFF mines usually produce a
K-Kill because spalling metal from the blast of the mines
or from secondary explosions kills the crew.

ANTIPERSONNEL MINES

TYPES OF KILLS

AP mines can kill or
incapacitate their victims. The mines commit medical resources,
degrade unit morale, and damage nonarmored vehicles. Some types
of AP mines may break or damage the track on armored vehicles.

TYPES OF SENSING

AP mines can be fused
by pressure, seismic, wire, or command detonation:

Pressure
fuses usually activate an AP mine when a load is placed
on the fuse.

Seismic
fuses activate an AP mine when the sensor detects
vibrations or movement within the search range.

Command-detonated mines are activated by a soldier when
he detects the enemy in the mines' blast area.

TYPES OF WARHEADS

AP mines contain five
types of warheads:

Blast.
Cripples the foot or leg of a soldier who steps on it;
can also burst the tires of a wheeled vehicle that passes
over it.

Bounding-fragmentation. Throws a canister into the air;
the canister bursts and scatters shrapnel throughout the
immediate area.

Direct-fragmentation. Propels fragments in the general
direction of enemy soldiers.

Stake-fragmentation. Bursts and scatters shrapnel in all
general directions.

Chemical/flame. Disperses a chemical agent or a flame
mixture to cripple or kill the soldier who activates it;
can also cause casualties in the proximity of the
detonated mine.

ANTIHANDLING DEVICES

AHDs perform the
function of a mine fuse if someone attempts to tamper with the
mine. They are intended to prevent moving or removing the mine,
not to prevent reduction of the minefield by enemy dismounts. An
AHD usually consists of an explosive charge that is connected to,
placed next to, or manufactured in the mine. The device can be
attached to the mine body and activated by a wire that is
attached to a firing mechanism. US forces can employ AHDs on
conventional AT mines only. Other countries employ AHDs on AT and
AP mines.

Some mines have extra
fuse wells that make it easier to install AHDs (Figure 1-4).
An AHD does not have to be attached to
the mine; it can be placed underneath the mine (Figure 1-5).
Mines with AHDs are sometimes incorrectly
called booby-trapped mines.

Figure 1-4. AHD incorporating a release mechanism

Figure 1-5. AHD not attached to the mine

The following
hand-emplaced AHDs are used by US forces (Figure 1-6):

M5 pressure-release firing
device (FD).

M142 multipurpose FD.

Figure 1-6. Hand-emplaced US AHDs

These devices use a
spring-loaded striker with a standard base, and they function in
one or more modes--pressure, pressure-release, tension, and/or
tension-release. When an FD is employed as an AHD on certain AT
mines, it requires the use of an M1 or M2 activator. FDs and
activators are described in Appendix A.

The family of
superquick fuses is commonly used by other countries as
AHDs. There are seven known fuses that are initiated by
vibration, acoustic, inertia, time, lighting, trip wire, and
thermal. These devices, when employed with explosives materials,
can also be used for booby-trap and sabotage actions. Superquick
fuses consist of two separate component boxes--one contains the
detonator and the fuse; the other contains the electronics module
that activates the system.